Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve.  What a fun, glorious day - the pre-curser to Christmas and the day when the excitement really sets in.  This year, our Christmas Eve started out slightly different because I had to go to the doctor.  The sickness finally won out so I headed out to my appointment and left the boys with instructions of what to do to be ready when I got home :-)  It's good I went to the doctor since I had ended up with Asthmatic Bronchitis - some good meds and I was on my way to recovery (hopefully!).  I talked to Josh on my way home and he said, "We are waiting for you so we can leave for Papa and Nana's house!!" HA!  As soon as I got home, we loaded up and headed out with a stop at the pharmacy on our way out of town.

Our first stop was Bob Evans to meet my parents for a late lunch.  My mom had coupons for feel dinners so it was easy and inexpensive :-)  The boys were thrilled to finally be with "Papa-Clause and Nana-Clause" HA!  To make it even better, it started snowing while we were there.  Snow just seems to "make" Christmas.   We hung out at the parents house until time for the Christmas Eve Service at my dad's church.  It is always such a great service and it did not disappoint.  The music, the message and, for the first time, a true candle-lite service.  We all gathered in a large circle, lit the candles, and sang Silent Night - it was so beautiful. 

We then headed back to my parents house for snacks.  This is a tradition in our family - Christmas Eve Snacks.  Shrimp Cocktail, Crescent wrapped litt'l wieners, cheese and crackers and more.  Then we headed downstairs to give the boys their Christmas Eve Gifts.

 Our Christmas photo of two cute little boys.  This is the best we got - the rest they are just being silly boys which I love!

 Christmas Eve Gifts - we got the boys new Christmas PJ's and I made them each an ABC book using all of their own toys as inspiration (I'll be sharing more on that later).  Plus they got a couple of toys from Papa and Nana- John Deere Flashlights and Jack-in-the-Boxes. 

 Of course, we had to get photos of the boys with their new PJ's :-)  I love this shot . . .plus lots of outtakes!

 Finally, a long standing tradition in my family - the photo of the kids in front of three - facing it :-)  I love it. 

 The boys went to bed willingly and slept until 8:00 the next morning which is fabulous.  Not sure how many more years we have of sleeping in on Christmas Morning!

Nate's Third Birthday

Our special little Nathan turned 3 on December 22nd and we had lots of fun celebrating. Thankfully we were starting to be on the upswing of being so ill so Nate was able to have some fun.

First up are his Birthday Shots from his Photos take about a week or so ago!

 Don't you just love the photo with the lights?  I do!  I love that it marks the season without looking so Christmas-y.

Now on to the parties!!

We started our celebrating on his actual birthday with just a small party - just the four us.

 The Birthday Boy!!!  Don't you love that shirt?  I ordered his shirt from Sassy Pants Designs LLC - the same shop I ordered Josh's birthday shirt from.  She does fantastic work and is so easy to work with - I was able to tell her what the theme was that I wanted and she sent me some ideas to chose from and I was so very happy with his cute shirt :-) 

 Now, lets keep this real.  This WAS our birthday decor this year.  I feel a little bad because I had planned to do more but, well, I'm starting to sound like a broken record - sickness changes plans.

 The birthday dinner - "Chicken and Fries" . . Nate's favorite. 

 Yes, we ate dinner by candle lights because we roll like that HA  Actually, our dining room fixture has gone bad so we can't use it until my electrician dad can get over here in January and put up something new.  For now, we eat in the darkened room or add some candle light for a little more light!  The boys kept trying to blow it out - there was spit flying everywhere!

 We have a little tradition in this house and that is we have Meijer mini-cupcakes on the boys actual birthday when it doesn't fall on their party day. Normally, I've been so busy cooking and baking getting ready for the party that trying to create one more dessert is just not fun. These cupcakes are just fun and we all love them.

 Presents - the best time of the night!  This year Nate got a V-tech camera that he has been waiting for since Josh got his last year, a puzzle and then an Mama and Baby Elephant.  Nate loves those little animals you can get . . specifically zoo animals.  He calls them all his friends so how could I not get him some special ones?  The boys were cute with their cameras - Josh got his out and they walked around taking pictures of each other . . .taking pictures and then played the little games that are the cameras too. 

Finally, we measured Nate :-)  He is up to 3 feet 2 inches - growing like a weed.

Party # 2!  We celebrated with the Grandparents on Sunday, the 23rd.

 After we all attended our church program, we went to a local BBQ place for the party.  It was originally supposed to be at our house but we had to shift it due to all of the illness. 

 Nate blowing out more candles :-)  These cupcakes are Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Frosting.  Everyone else raved about them but I'm not so sure.  Maybe my taste buds are just messed up.

 Finally, all of the gifts!  Josh loved watching Nate open his presents and was even more excited when he got to open one of his own. 

Nate got all of this awesome Dinosaur stuff, a Little People Nativity Set, and a Sock Monkey.  To say that he was excited is an understatement.

We really had a great two days worth of celebrating.  As we did with Josh, we will be taking the family on an over night hotel stay in January because they boys love to "Swim and stay in a hotel".  With all of the busyness of the holidays, we decided to take our little getaway after the new year and are looking forward to a fun couple of days :-) 

Christmas Program 2012

Well, we got to experience a "first" this past Sunday as parents.  What is it, you ask?  We got to see our kids in a Christmas program.  Before we had kids, we always tried to make it to see my nephews and nieces in their Christmas program but we never expected to be able to see our own.  There was concern, even up until Saturday, that we wouldn't make it but, we took the boys on Sunday with coughs and runny noses ;-)

The boys did awesome.  Nate sat right up front and was all smiles, Josh kinda hid behind one of the sheep and kept his head low.  He told me later that it was very scary up there and he doesn't want to be a shepherd again HA  He also told me that he couldn't sing the songs so he just sang his ABC's.  

 See Josh sitting behind that little lamb and Nate surrounded by girls already.

My Mother-in-law had the perfect view of Josh and got some great shots!

 My sweet little shepherd trying to be invisible . . .so adorable.

I love my little shepherds and am so proud of them!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, may you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the true reason for the season, Jesus Christ, and enjoying memories and fun with those you love.

The Grinch and SomeTinsel - the week of total sickness

This will be the last post about our Grinch and Tinsel activities.  I think as the boys get older (and I'm slightly more organized) this will become an even more fun tradition.

Saturday, Dec 15th
So, I had grand plans for today - it was Christmas Cookie Decorating Day!!!  I had the package of cookie mix ready (don't judge store bought cookie dough with toddlers HA), two cans of frosting and some sprinkles ready to go.  Then . . .I got so unbelievably sick it isn't even funny.  I spent all of Saturday either in bed or on the couch (and my children were fantastic all day) with sinus pressure, coughing, congestion, chills, fever . .. everything that goes along with the true flu. I can honestly say I have not been this sick in years.  I am diligently praying that no one else in the family gets it or we will miss all of the Christmas activities next weekend.  As it is, I had to back out of singing a duet at church on Sunday and singing in our last Lakewood Area Choral Society Concert.

Sunday, Dec 16th through . . the rest of the week
Ok . . .ready - we did nothing because we were all so terribly sick.  The boys ask for chocolate one day so I just gave them some Hershey Kisses.  I had several crafts to do this week and right now, everything has been put on hold.  We'll do them - they will just be done after Christmas. Shoot, as of this moment, we are considering not doing our Christmas with the kids until New Years because we have been too sick to do anything to get ready for it.  So we'll see what happens!!

Here Comes Santa Claus

I love photos with Santa.  They are always so unique and fun - especially when kids cry :-)   Well, sometimes you just have to be flexible to get that Santa photo and that is what we had to be this year.  So, without further adieu, here are the 2012 Santa Photos!

It's ok, you can laugh HA!  I was laying on the couch dying coughing so I couldn't sleep one night last week, saddened that we would not get to see Santa this year but still trying to figure out how to get "that" photo.  We had planned to go visit a Santa and Mrs. Claus at a Michigan Santa House in the next town over.  It's free and you take your own photo.  Then the "sickness" hit our house and that plan when out the window.  I found this gift bag with Santa and totally compromised the whole concept. 

Next year, we will go visit Santa and Mrs. Claus the FIRST night they are open so we don't miss it!!!